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When you wish upon an African star
by Sarah Crisp
12:50 (CAT) 12.03.2011 Shelanti Game Ranch Vulture Restaurant.
‘Hey Don, what’s that big grey bird?’ I don’t think that Don De Swardt will ever forget those words or the hour thereafter that he spent watching his white whale.
My fiance, Alfred and I were fortunate enough to be a part of Twitch-history this past Saturday whilst visiting on Shelanti Game Ranch. We woke up early to beat the Vulture-waiters to the Vulture Restaurant in hopes of watching a Vulture-style dinner. We had been warned that the wait could be anything from 2 to 4 hours of intensive sit-and-do-nothing...quietly, but were willing to put in the time. As we arrived at the hide, Don (an NMMU Saasveld student and Ranch intern) began by explaining to us the feeding procedure. The food (animal carcasses) is dropped off by the same tractor-trailer every few days after which the Vulture’s begin to circle in the heat thermals in the air above the carcasses. After a while the Vultures begin to descend to the tree tops surrounding the restaurant. Here is where the sit and wait actually begins, the Vultures keep to the tree tops until one bold Vulture makes the first move. Once one Vulture lands, the rest follow suit and it’s a race to see who can get his fill first.
This all sounded simple enough, but after four hours our patience was beginning to wear thin and our own lunch was calling. As we were about to throw in the towel, a brave Vulture landed. The sound which followed can only be described as powerful, like a river which plummets hundreds of meters down a sheer rock face in a cascading crash that leaves you breathless. Hundreds of pairs of wings rushed to dinner.
Here it must be mentioned that as we arrived at the hide, Don said to us that if anyone spotted a Rüppell’s Vulture, he would buy us a bottle of champagne to celebrate. The next thing we know we’re witnessing a feeding frenzy, something quite special to behold, as hundreds of Cape and White-backed Vultures gorged themselves on ribs and steak. Abie (my sister and Don’s girlfriend and fellow Saasveld student and Ranch intern) began snapping away photo’s of tagged Vultures while Don pursued them through his binoculars.
From the other side of the hide, Chris (another Saasveld student and Ranch intern) asked, ‘Hey Don, what’s that big grey bird?’. Don began to brush off the question but stopped mid-reply by shouting, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s a freaking Ruppell’s!’. The jubilation and excitement which ensued was more than worth the four hours wait. We collectively took over 300 photo’s that morning, more than half of which show this beautiful bird feasting with his fellow Vultures. And of course, we celebrated with champagne!
Why is this bird so special? Rüppell’s Vulture is a rare vagrant to South Africa. It is indigenous to parts of East and North Africa and rarely if ever visits this far South. The last sighting of a Rüppell’s Vulture in Southern Africa was in 2008.
Need your Twitch fix? Visit Shelanti Game Ranch and maybe you’ll be lucky enough to see this special bird too.
Click here for more on Shelanti’s Vulture Restaurant.
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